1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric shaver and more particularly to an electric shaver in which a plurality of cutter units, each including an outer cutter and an inner cutter that reciprocates while making sliding contact with the outer cutter, are disposed side by side in the upper portion of the shaver main body.
2. Prior Art
In a typical reciprocating electric shaver, a cutter head is installed on the upper portion of a shaver main body that includes a driving source (motor), a driving mechanism, a power supply, an operating switch, etc. The cutter head is comprised of one or more main cutter units and an auxiliary cutter unit, which are installed side by side. Each of the main cutter units comprises a combination of a foil-form outer cutter and an inner cutter that makes a reciprocating motion while making sliding contact with the inside surface of the outer cutter. The auxiliary cutter unit comprises a combination of a slit-form outer cutter (e.g., an edge-trimming cutter or a rough shaving cutter) and an inner cutter that makes a reciprocating motion while making sliding contact with the inside surface of the outer cutter.
FIG. 14 shows one example of the cutter head of an electric shaver.
The cutter head 101 is detachably mounted on a shaver main body (not shown). The cutter head 101 is equipped with a plurality of cutter units 102 in which foil-form outer cutters and inner cutters that are driven in a reciprocating motion are combined. The cutter head 101 is further equipped with a rough shaving cutter 103, which is used for the rough shaving of unmanageable whiskers and long whiskers, etc., and an edge-trimming cutter 104, which is used to shave sideburns, which are installed adjacent to the cutter units 102. The edge-trimming cutter 104 is connected to the operating part of the shaver main body, so that it is used with its height position adjusted in three stages that include the areas indicated by broken lines.
In the electric shaver shown in FIG. 14, since the height positions of the cutter units are fixed, the area that contacts the skin in cases where, for example, whiskers under the nose or whiskers under the jaw are shaved is limited, so that unmanageable whiskers tend to shaved with an insufficient correction. Consequently, shaving stubble tends to be generated, and the finished shave tends to be insufficient. In cases where shaving stubble is generated, it may be necessary to redo the same shaved surface several times, dripping the shaving efficiency. Furthermore, in cases where the edge-trimming cutter is merely adjustable to an upper or lower position, there is no variation in the cutter surface that corresponds to the surface of the skin with various shaved surfaces such as the cheeks, area under the nose and area under the jaw, etc., so that a sufficient function cannot be manifested.